FateRemnant
by BoredParanoia
Summary: Under the fires of war, much shall be tested. Friendships, ideals, dreams, hopes... Some shall survive, while others shall fall. In the end, all will be victims... Welcome to the Holy Grail War. AU. - Thank you, Monty Oum, for your energy and work ethic. Just watch everyone here, we'll do our best to match what you had. RIP 1981 - 2015.
1. Prologue

**Hey, this is Bored Paranoia with a new story, and an explanation why I probably won't be updating One Punch Jaune.**

**First of all, why am I not updating One Punch Jaune? Honestly, I have not read the manga in a while, so a bit loss of interest might be there. But I feel like the main reason why is the same reason that I hope to be able to finish this story.**

**In the end, I just didn't have a set plan for One Punch Jaune. I honestly didn't have an idea of where to go on it, and thus I felt like I couldn't do it.**

**For this story, I do have a set plan, a set plot, and a set amount of chapters I feel would be enough. 20 chapters. I feel that I can do this in 20 chapters. I am also holding myself to at least a chapter per month.**

**And yes, just like how One Punch Jaune was inspired by One Punch Man, Fate/Remnant was inspired by the Fate series by Nasu, including such entries like Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the Fate series.**

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><p><em>Legends... Stories that are passed down from generation to generation, containing such tales of monsters, of battles, of heroes...<em>

_These tales we hear, we admire, we adore... But what if once upon a time...They held power?_

_Long ago, when Remnant wasn't Remnant, magic coursed through the land, and people had learned to wield it. Under the societies of the time, those people hid themselves away, the power of their magic depending on the scarcity of people who knew of it. And so it was, that a society of magi existed, separate from the populous that were unaware._

_But these magi weren't just satisfied with their power. They yearned to learn its secrets, its mysteries. So they delved deeper and deeper. Until a conundrum was reached; to access the greater mysteries of their craft, they needed more power. So all the family lines of magi began to experiment taking on their own route to see which of their lines of experiments would bear the greatest fruit._

_Their ultimate goal? The Root of Akasha, said to be the center of all existence, and thus, the root of all knowledge itself. All the lines worked towards this goal, this board impossible goal. Yet all magi were borne, lived and died for this goal._

_Then three of these families, the Eizbern, the Makiri, and the Tohsaka, came up with a ritual that would provide enough power to reach Akasha. The ritual involved creating seven vessels of power that when sacrificed, would pool in a greater vessel until the collected power would be enough to grant access to Akasha. _

_And the powers that would be housed in the lesser vessels. The magi then turned to a place where such beings of power could exist. _

_The Throne of Heroes. A plane of existence housing figures of humanity so revered for their deeds that they were allowed to ascend to this hallowed plane._

_From this plane, the seven lesser vessels became the seven classes, to house the Heroic Spirits and bind them to this realm._

_Saber, the masters of the sword._

_Lancer, swift warriors of the spear._

_Archer, trained in the ways of the bow._

_Rider, upon their vehicles, the swiftest of all._

_Berserker, the rampaging monsters that know no bounds._

_Caster, wielders of great and terrible magicks._

_Assassin, the killers that lurk in the shadows._

_Together, all their combined power would be enough to grant any wish... But just one._

_When this was discovered, it wasn't long before the Holy Grail Ritual became the Holy Grail War._

_And so seven Masters, all with desires they wish to fulfill, with seven Servants, would come to fight..._

_Until one would triumph..._

_For a long time, this bloody war was dormant, but now..._

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><p>"MERCURY!"<p>

A silver haired young man grimaced as his rest was so utterly destroyed by his partner in crime. Grimacing, Mercury Black got up in bed and blinked at the fuming dark skinned young woman tapping her foot at the side of his bed. Shaking his head to get himself awake faster, he turned to face Emerald Sustai.

"What? What do you want?"

"What the heck did you do?"

Mercury blinked. Out of everything that he was expecting her to say, that wasn't one of them.

"Huh?"

Whatever patience Emerald had for him evaporated before Emerald shoved the back of her hand to his face.

"Really, then I suppose this isn't something that you did?"

Mercury frowned, scratching his head before looking at what Emerald was talking about. On her hand, what looked like a red tattoo stared at him. The tattoo looked like a fire, only that it was sectioned into three, each part inside the other. Staring at it for a bit, Mercury suddenly got it.

"Wait wait waitwaitwait. Are you saying that you think I had something to do with this?"

Emerald nodded.

"Isn't it usually?"

Mercury held up his hands.

"Okay, you got me there. But listen, and I'm being completely truthfully honest, I have no idea where or how that got there."

Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Mercury nodded.

"Really, believe me. I went to sleep with that hand being clean, and now look at it."

Emerald stared at him for a bit before shaking her hand and walking off. Still, Mercury had to get off a final word.

"Be sure to cover that thing. Seems pretty unique in our line of work."

That was when Emerald threw a pillow at him.

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><p>Junior Huang rubbed his chin as he sat at his desk, looking at the red tattoo that appeared on his hand. It looked like a bear's claw, the claws and the paw prints looking like three separate . He then looked at the bottle of liquor that he had drank the night after. Then he made his decision.<p>

"Hey, tell the people who are selling Rick's Terrific Liquor that we're not buying from them anymore." Junior said to the person on the phone as he tossed the bottle of liquor in the garbage.

Seriously, only low quality alcohol could have made have made him get such an ugly tattoo.

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><p>Sun Wukong was staring at his hand, his tail idly swishing behind him as he tried to think of a way that he managed to get a tattoo on the ship that he was currently on. Not to mention why he decided to. He already promised himself he would never drink.<p>

One piece of blackmail in Neptune's inventory was one too many for his taste.

As far as he knew, he had taken off his gloves to wash his hands and eat, because who wanted to get gloves as awesome as his get dirty? Just as he removed the one on his right hand, did he catch a bit of red that shouldn't have been there.

Looking at it, it looked like three arrowheads grouped together that it nearly looked like a lotus flower to him.

Just as he tried to ponder what other bits of information he could glean, he heard the door to the hold he was in open, and jumped into the shadows of the rafters. Looking down at the two crewmen looking around, he noticed that he left Ruyi Bang behind on the crate that he had been sitting on. Thinking quickly, he looked through his pockets to find one banana peel.

Not even bothering to ask himself why he had left such garbage in his pockets, he balled it up and threw it in the opposite direction. As the crewmen turned to see what caused the sound, he grabbed his weapon and moved away, trying to think what other parts of the ship he could relocate to.

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><p>If anyone had been looking up at the rooftops, they would have seen the small woman walking on the rooftops with a open parasol. Neo ignored the people below as she contemplated the red markings on her hand. It looked like three daggers, their blades crossing each other. Neo wasn't such a fan of tattoos, and it seemed like just such a blemish on her perfectly pale skin.<p>

Such blemishes had to be erased in her opinion.

If only it could have been that easy. She had tried everything, from scrubbing it, to even trying to perform her own tattoo laser removal on herself. All had yielded nothing.

It was at this time that it became obvious whatever was on her hand wasn't a tattoo. So for now it would have to stay. Still, there was something worrying about it.

Like this marking was part of something bigger...

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><p>Velvet Scarlatina sat on her bed, staring at her hand, namely the red tattoo that she just couldn't remember getting. It looked like three diagonal jagged lines, almost looking like claw marks. She frowned before laying back on her bed.<p>

Well, she better get ready for the day, another day that she was without her team... At least they would have been enough to deal with that jerk Cardin...

Her bunny ears were already starting to ache.

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><p>"WEISS! WHEN THE HELL DID YOU AND RUBY GET FRIENDSHIP TATTOOS!" A raging blonde inferno named Yang Xiao Long roared as she glared down a shaking Weiss Schnee.<p>

"I'm t-t-telling y-you...I-I d-d-don't know...Really...Y-you g-got to b-b-believe me... " stuttered Weiss, trying to keep her composure. Though with the fury of Yang facing her, it was clearly a losing battle.

Either way, it was too early in the morning to be dealing with this.

"BULLSHIT!" Yang shouted turning up the temperature a few more degrees.

"Yang, please be reasonable." Blake Belladonna tried to calm her partner down. "They were with us the entire time during the day, and I doubt that Weiss or Ruby would want to make you mad. Besides, isn't the point of friendship tattoos is that they have a part of something or the same thing, because those don't look like the same."

Yang and Weiss looked down at the tattoo that had appeared on Weiss' hand. Looking at it, it looked like a spear and a shield, the spear in the middle of the shield to make it look like two pieces.

"So...does that mean I can keep mine? Because it looks kind of cool..."

Everyone turned to look at Ruby, who was admiring her own tattoo, which was a sword with the hilt, cross guard, and blade sectioned off in three pieces.

"No, we're going to get it removed. Come on." Yang said as she grabbed Ruby's hand and walked out the door with Ruby in tow.

"BUT YANG!" Blake and Weiss could hear Ruby whine as she was dragged out the door.

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><p><em>Behold...The Holy Grail War shall begin anew.<em>


	2. Gathering

**Glad that people are interested in seeing how this will go. I have to admit, one of the questions I had writing the first chapter is that if people would even be interested in reading this. Thank you guys for answering my questions.**

**I also looked through the reviews and saw that some people were already suggesting ideas for Servants, and sorry to say, but I already have ideas for which Servants I'm going to use.**

**With that said, enjoy this huge block of exposition and the introduction of the servants, most of them at least.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the Fate series.**

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><p>Sun Wukong had been pretty inquisitive as a child.<p>

From the day that he arrived at that little orphanage in Vacuo, Sun's nature drove him to seek out any information about anything that interested him. If something latched onto his desire, no matter what, he would eventually be driven to pursue and understand it. Whether that meant slogging through any relevant books in the library, to active observation in the field, if Sun had interest in it, he would gladly jump through hoops, flaming or not.

On some cases, it had served him well. Once, the orphanage had a movie night and one of the movies shown was a martial arts film. Sun was enthralled by it, and eventually strove to emulate it. Eventually, his love of martial arts translated into actual fighting ability, and he soon went to Mistral to harness that talent. It would be there that he would meet Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet, the best guys a guy could ask to be on his team.

On the other hand, this nature had gotten him into plenty of trouble. Sun, when he was fully indulged in this mood, completely threw out any notions of what was socially acceptable. And when that happened, some incidents stand out more than others.

Sun had forgotten that one girl still had a restraining order against him, and to use his textbook money to pay for the charges.

Point is, his curious nature got him in trouble before. Looking for a place to hide and sleep for the night, he had found the specific shipping container that he had been staying in. It was only after the he turned on the flashlight that he had...borrowed from one of the crew members that he found out what the musty smell was.

Books, a whole lot of books. Normally, Sun would have groaned when he saw that he was in the 'boring crate' if one book cover hadn't caught his eye. He wasn't sure what it was but there was something about it that just called out to him. Sun figured he had time and cracked it open.

What was inside...

Servants...

Command Seals...

The Holy Grail War... and what awaited the victor at the end of it all...

Laying the book aside, Sun laid down on the crate that he had been sitting on and stared up at the ceiling of the container, staring at the blank command seals on his hand. According to what the book told him, he had a long time before 2:00 am, the time most ideal for summoning a servant, and involving himself in this...war.

"So many questions, and I doubt that I can get the answers from this book." Sun thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes.

Why was he chosen for this? What would happen if he decided he didn't want to join in this thing? Apparently, there were six other 'masters' out there, and considering the prize that was at stake, it was stupid to assume that they would be as chill as him over this. Would they just kill him just because he happened to have this seal on his hand?

Even if he decided to get in on this thing, the idea of Servants... Heck, even the idea of a Throne of Heroes, that if you were cool enough in life, you got to ascend this magical holy place, it just threw him for a loop. Still, what kind of hero would he call down from it, and what would they be like?

"I hope we get along... If I decide I'm going through with this."

And another thing, a wish for anything, anything at all? What would he do with a wish like that? Heck, what would anyone else do with a wish like that? Maybe he should wish for a lifetime supply of bananas for the heck of it.

"GAH!" Sun rubbed his head as the sheer weight of everything just fell on him, before throwing his arms up in the air just for the minimal release they could give. His arms now falling limp, Sun sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

"Maybe I just need to sleep on this. Maybe I'll wake up and find that this is just some really crazy dream that I just can't pinch myself out of."

Yet sleep eluded Sun as his mind went wild, taunting his brain with what-ifs and maybes, to the point that Sun opened his eyes. Sitting up, he fumbled for the flashlight and turned it on, before looking for where he had placed the book. Grabbing it, he began to flip through the pages, his eyes now searching for specific information.

"Alright, so if I wanted to summon my guy, what do I need to do?" he whispered to himself,

though it seemed like he was also pleading with the book.

"I mean, it's not like I'll be meeting those people soon, right?"

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><p>For the 30th time that day, Junior sighed as he downed another shot of whiskey. Life, at this point in time, was just disappointing, depressing and disheartening. All he had to do nowadays was to look over the broken shell that was the Club, his club and the various henchmen that was working hard to try to get it back into presentable shape.<p>

And that was the thing, there was the rub. Apparently, so much damage had been done that even three months after...her visit, the Club was still not ready to be opened. Just the thought made him pour another shot of the emptying bottle.

To think it had all started when...Blondie showed up. Junior registered the sound of the glass shattering in his hand and the alcohol splashing all over him. Looking down at the liquid dotting his shirt and vest, he shook his head.

Screw this, he thought, leaping over the bar as he started to drink straight from the bottle.

"It's too early in the morning to be drinking, Junior. You should stop doing that." Melanie Malachite said as she appeared by his side with the tone of voice that said that she didn't care less. Or maybe she did and that was just how Melanie talked.

"You should also try to keep breaking the shot glasses to a minimum, we might have to start buying new sets." Miltiades 'Miltia' Malachite commented, appearing on his other side, with the same kind of tone that her sister had.

...Maybe it was just the way that they are.

"Hey, it's fine, it's fine." Junior waved them off as he looked at one group of his henchmen trying to repair the glass planes on the higher windows he crashed through. One of them stood on top of a ladder next to the window, one was at the bottom of the ladder holding it steady, while another one was handing off the panels. As one panel was handed off, the henchman had to reach for the panel. His hand twitched as he struggled to reach for it. Unbeknownst to that one, he tipped the ladder over, the ladder falling over on the one holding the glass panels. The sound of smashing glass made his eye twitch.

As the henchman at the top tried to assist his friend, he forgot about the henchman at the bottom, who was still holding on it like an idiot. The ladder began to tip back, and trap that henchman under the spokes. Realizing their friend's predicament, they went over and lifted the ladder so that the henchman under could move. He instead moved too quickly, knocking the ladder over again.

The sound of breaking glass made his eye twitch more.

All of his henchmen looked nervous as they waited to see their boss' reaction to this latest setback. Miltia and Melanie shared a look before moving a step to the side, allowing Junior a little more space. Then Junior closed his eyes, and took a deep breath as he stopped his body shaking.

The relief from the henchmen was palatable.

Then Junior screamed as he threw the bottle of alcohol to his now designated bottle throwing wall.

"MONTY FUCKING OUM! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS! FIRST WAS BLONDIE, WHO MADE YOU ALL LOOK LIKE EASY PICKINGS OUT THERE. THEN I HEAR THAT YOU GUYS WERE STOPPED BY SOME GIRL IN A RED CAPE FROM ROBBING A SMALL TIME DUST STORE. AND NOW, I BET THE REASON THAT THE CLUB IS TAKING SO LONG TO OPEN AGAIN IS BECAUSE OF STUPID FUCKING SHIT LIKE THIS!"

The henchmen were glad that Blondie had broken Junior's Bat/Missile Launcher, because it was clear if he had it, he would be using it on them right now.

"SERIOUSLY, I SHOULD JUST FALL DOWN A RANDOM SHAFT AND JUST SAVE MYSELF THE EMBARASSMENT OF KNOWING THAT YOU GUYS ON MY PAY -

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

What tirade he was going on was stopped suddenly, as the dance floor that Junior had been stomping on had broken through and left Junior falling into the dark. Everyone crowded around the hole and listened for the impact. As they heard it, silence had reached over the group, before one random henchman called.

"BOSS! You alright?"

Silence greeted them at first, before Junior responded, his abused throat making it that people had to strain their ears.

"...I guess I am now..."

Junior blinked as his eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light around him. Breathing in, Junior choked on the dust in the air and coughed furiously. Cracking the cricks in his back, he looked around at what seemed like a pretty area. Junior grimaced.

"What the heck? I thought the last owners said that there was nothing under this building."

Junior looked up at the lone square of light coming down, and shouted up at the henchman.

"Hey, someone get me a rope and a flashlight for me, and someone make a note for me to make sure that the people who sold me this building know the penalty for misleading a Xiong!"

As the henchmen scrambled to get Junior what he wanted, Melanie and Miltia jumped down to join and looked around.

"Hmph, spacious." Melanie commented, looking like she wasn't even affected by the dust.

"We could probably put this as a separate part of the club, we were missing an exclusive wing to the Club." Miltia commented, her eyes tracing the edges of the room.

...Seriously, where or when in the hell he hired these girls?

"Boss! Incoming!" Looking up, Junior stood stock-still as the flashlight landed on his face. Twitching for a bit, he took the flashlight and nodded.

"Thank you and be sure to hold down that rope." He said as he turned the flashlight on, turning around from the henchmen that were sliding down the rope. Satisfied he wasn't hearing his men fall to the ground, he illuminated the room with the flashlight. Then he blinked as he saw the room, or more importantly what it contained.

Books. A lot whole of books, piles upon piles of books, some towers as tall as he was. In the middle of the room, a single wooden desk sat, a single book lying on it. As he walked closer to it, he heard one of his henchmen shout.

"BOSS! These books look like pre-Remnant!"

Turning around, he glared at the henchman.

"Are you sure?"

The henchman nodded as he came near with one book in hand and opened it up, revealing words that Junior barely recognized.

" What is this supposed to be?" Junior asked.

"Well, this book was written in English, a pre-Remnant language that some scholars are claiming is the main basis for our own language and alphabet." The henchman said as he flipped through the pages.

"Uh-huh..." Junior said as he rubbed his chin, eyeing the books. "How much do you think people will pay for this stuff?"

The henchman looked around, mirroring his boss. "I say you've stumbled onto a gold mine here, boss. Museums and private collectors will pay through the nose to get anything they think is from pre-Remnant era."

Junior smiled as a glint entered his eyes. "Alright, grab everything you can, and try not to destroy anything, understood?"

"Understood." The henchman nodded as he returned to the rest of the group to relay Junior's orders. Putting the rest of the room out of his mind, he picked the book on the desk and looked it over, from the cover, to the spine. For it to be separate from the rest of the books, what did it contain? Junior opened it up to a random page and held the flashlight to it.

Staring at the page, he looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, someone come over here and shine their light on this book."

As one of his henchmen walked over, Junior bit on the finger of his glove and pulled it off his hand. As the light illuminated the page again, Junior held his hand up to the page, or more specifically, the diagram on it.

"Son of a gun..." Junior whispered, as he looked at the tattoo on his hand to the tattoo on the hand drawn up on the page.

The diagram was labeled 'Command Seals.'

Staring at the book in his hands, he closed it before tucking it under his arm. After everything else in this room was sorted he could take another look at this book.

For now, it looked like his henchmen somehow managed to start a small fire.

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><p>Another hard day pinching people off to make do with their lives, Emerald thought to herself as she walked into the abandoned warehouse that was her home. Stretching her back and hearing some satisfactory cracks, she opened the door. There, sitting at the lone table sat Mercury kicking his feet on it as he counted the stolen wallet money.<p>

"Pretty good haul?" Emerald asked as she sat at the table and threw her share of stolen wallets on the table. Mercury nodded as he took his feet off, sitting back in his chair.

"Yeah, I think we can even afford that chocolate you like, Emmy." Mercury said with a grin as he tossed the Lien to the middle of the table.

"Sure, let's just save what we got and go get takeout." Emerald said dryly as she laid out her day's earnings.

"Come on, Emmy. Live a bit, you're always so anxious about the future and what-ifs and maybes... Learn to live in the now sometime."

Emerald nodded. "Sage advice, Merc, probably would mean a lot more if you even had a sense of money responsibility."

Mercury huffed. "I'm plenty responsible..."

The dark-skinned girl groaned. "You once spent your lunch money on comic books...and you can barely read."

"So? I do not regret it one bit, the pictures were pretty." Mercury replied. Emerald groaned, before noticing something near Mercury's feet.

"What's that?" Emerald asked, pointing at the box that was near Mercury's feet. He looked down, and with a look of realization, realized that it was there in the first place, grabbed it and laid it on the table.

"Well, when I was out, a truck had stalled and whoever was driving it left the back open so I came in, grabbed what I could and here it is." Mercury said as he opened it up. "Though the only in here are these dusty books. Not too many pictures..."

Emerald looked inside before grabbing one book and looking over it, before sighing. "I think you might have wasted your energy, Merc. How can we even pawn this stuff?"

Mercury smirked as he plucked the book from Emerald's grasp and looked it himself. His smirk got wider.

"Yeah, it does look kinda worthless, but check this out, Emmy. I was looking through this stuff and I came across this." Opening the book and flipping through the pages, he pointed to one page.

Emerald's eyes widened as she looked at it, before looking at the tattoo on her hand.

"Looks pretty similar, right? Do you know what it says on the page?" Mercury said as he handed the book to her. Emerald took it and looked over the words, her want of knowledge racking through the text.

"If you are reading this, son, then you have found the command seals on your hand. This means what our family has been hoping for the past 60 years,"

Emerald heard Mercury whistle but she paid no attention and continued.

"Another chance at the Holy Grail, and another chance at that one wish..." Every other word on the page turned to scribbles as Emerald allowed herself to comprehend that last sentence.

"...That's impossible. Mercury, there is no way that this is real...there's just no way. This has to be a fake..." Emerald shook her head, letting the paper slip from her hands. Mercury's eyes widened before he dove for it, catching it before it hit the ground. Turning it around, he pointed at it with his finger.

"What do you mean, it's fake? You don't know where that," Mercury pointed to the red tattoos on her hand. "Came from, and I don't know where that came from. This thing knows where it came from so that's a point in its favor."

Emerald leaned back, still looking unsure. Mercury got off his chair and walked around the table. Reaching her, he lowered himself until he was looking at her eye level.

"Emerald, this is it, this could be our ticket to a good life, to something beyond...THIS!" He gestured all around him, at the abandoned warehouse, at the stolen goods that were lying on the table, to their clothes that despite their care, still seemed shabby and something that street urchins like them would wear.

Emerald stared at Mercury.

"And if it is fake?"

Mercury looked down at the ground, before looking back up, something lighting up in his eyes. Emerald blinked, at the fact that for the first time in a while, Mercury actually looked like he actually cared about something.

"It's worth a shot, Emerald. It's worth a shot."

She gave a sigh as she wiped her face, feeling her hands slide down the flesh of her face.

"So we're going to war, huh?"

Mercury nodded, smirking.

"What, you thought I would leave you hanging after all we been through?"

Now it was Emerald's turn to smirk.

"Well..."

Mercury's smirk dropped as he shoved the letter back into Emerald's hands.

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Neo had to admit, as much of a unsightly thing that her target had been, he sure had quite the collection of artifacts and other rare and exotic things.<p>

She had gotten a contract from some rival collector of such things, to kill the man and take something that belonged to him, something that the target had taken great pains to hide, and what the contractor desperately wanted. Still, the contracter himself was so unsightly, she hoped that one would be stupid enough to make a enemy that would gladly call a contract on him.

All in all, she was prepared to slide in, slide her blade through the disgusting man's chest, and slide out. It was supposed to be simple. A simple job from a simple man to kill another man that simply had more than him.

Evidently not, as she made sure to wipe the blood from the small cut that the collector managed to make with the antique sword. Apparently, the man was a bit more skilled that she had thought. She glared at the corpse of the man who had dared tried, wiping the blood off her blade on his clothes before putting in back into her parasol.

Still, she had done her work, and the contractor would be happy with her work, yet there was something here that was calling to her, something made her pause. Looking around, she noticed that the man had managed to evade her until the study, which is grating to her considering that there was only one stairway in the whole household. Turning back to the man, she tilted her head as she saw his hand extended towards the bookcase.

Was there something important here, like was there a hidden compartment behind this bookcase? Walking to the bookcase, she scanned the bookshelves until she came across one book spine that was just a bit to...ordinary for her. Grabbing it, she tried to pull it out, only for her to hear a click and the bookshelf slide away.

Really, this was the secret hiding place? Neo shook her head at just how cliche it all was.

Looking inside, she blinked as she only saw the secret compartment to be filled with some books and papers that were looked like they were browning with age. Was this supposed to be his greatest treasure, Neo thought to herself as she took a book from the compartment? Was this supposed to be what the contractor was after, she thought to herself as she took a look at it with a discerning eye.

She supposed one look at it couldn't hurt, she decided as she cracked the book open to a random page. Then she blinked as she looked at the image that was transcribed on it. Looking at it, she quickly took off her glove to compare it. Looking it and the image on the page, she looked at the book with new eyes. Sitting down on the nearby chair by the fireplace, she began to read.

As she devoured the words on the page that knowledge of what was happening filled her head, the smile that bloomed on her face widened, until her lips strained to conceal her teeth. To think that this was what the contractor was after, no doubt after the wish that the Holy Grail would grant, only for her to be the competitor. Oh, it was quite ironic.

Still, no doubt the contractor would demand for her to hand it over, or more so, even hire her to enter this war and win the grail for him. Her smile slouched into a frown as she thought of something pure as the Holy Grail falling into that grubby man's little hands. She looked down only to realize that her hands were clutching the book so hard, the spine was starting to crack.

Forcing herself to ease up, she took a few deep breaths. Looking at the other materials that were stuck in the compartment, she got up from the chair and took them, tucking them under her arm. Just as she was getting ready to go, she looked around the room, before settling on the fireplace.

Setting the safety screen aside, she took a burning piece of wood, before carelessly tossing it over her shoulder. She watched as the wood flew through the air, landing on the chair that she was just in. Almost immediately, the piece of furniture was set on fire, the flames starting to grow outward. She walked away away, unmindful of the inferno that the room was starting to become.

All her thoughts were consumed of what she planned to do to the contractor, and what she would do with such a wish.

* * *

><p>Throughout Velvet's life, books have always been a comfort to her, being with her in a way that people couldn't, and after today, she certainly needed whatever comfort she needed.<p>

"Stupid Cardin..." She sniffed as she rubbed her sore rabbit ears after Cardin seemed to spend the entire day just pulling her ears. Walking down the filled shelves of the library, she plucked book after book, creating a small pile in her arms. If only her team was here, then she bet Cardin wouldn't even try to mess with her.

Heck, just one teammate would probably be enough for Cardin and his gang. Fox would probably leave them bewildered at just how fast he kicked their asses, Yatsushi would just loom over them and they would be scared off, and Coco... Velvet smiled as she allowed herself to imagine how that would go, hopefully with Cardin limping off with bruising on his pride and other parts.

However, the small smile dropped at the thought that her team just wasn't here right now. Yatsushi had a family emergency, Fox was facing punishment for disciplinary issues and Coco, as much as she enjoyed hearing her talk, her talk had gotten her in trouble again. Even worse of all, she knew her team was the only thing that could talk to.

Despite talking to the faculty about her grievances with Cardin and his team, the most they ever seemed to get was a stern talking to and a warning. Yet, it seemed like the only thing that Cardin took away from it was to make his bullying more discreet, and away from the eyes of the teachers. Her fellow classmates didn't seem to notice or want to get in the way, and as far as she seen, the other faunus that she had seen didn't want to get involved.

Velvet was feeling alone, and felt the weight of her ears immensely. It was times like these that she wished she had done what Blake Belladonna had did. Oh, she had noticed, the little twitches that her black bow did every so often, there was clearly something hiding under it. She didn't begrudge her though, clearly she hadn't wanted to deal with what she was currently going through.

Setting the pile of books on the table, she took the first one and was about to open it up, when she noticed that one door had been left open. She wouldn't have taken notice of it if she didn't spy what was inside. Setting the book down, she walked towards the open door and looked inside.

What she saw, made her struggle with herself.

'Oh, let's do it. Come on, looks like fun, Velv!' A voice that sounded suspiciously like Fox's whispered in her ear.

'Don't you do it, you are supposed to be the responsible one of the group...barring Yas.' Another voice that sounded like Coco whispered in her other ear.

She could already feel Yas' presence standing behind her, already accepting her decision.

Creeping carefully inside, Velvet began to look around the place. Whatever books were here, they looked old. Some even looked ancient, and Velvet found herself wondering how they even managed to retain their shape. She also got an idea for what exactly this place was.

Beacon served as many functions to the city of Vale than just a top-tier school for Hunter education. In many regards, Beacon also served as part of the community, albeit one that existed on a hill that was a bullhead away. This room probably was storage for some artifacts that the city of Vale thought that the staff of Beacon would be better to understand.

'Probably Professor Oobleck whenever he has the spare time.' Velvet idly thought to herself as she made to leave, to collide with a nearby bookshelf.

Quickly turning around, she paled as she saw that some of the materials were starting to come down. Quickly moving, she grabbed the falling books and papers out of the air and putting them into a pile in her arms. Looking back at the door, and seeing no one there sense her presence, she allowed herself to relax. Looking down at the materials, she began to put the materials back.

Then she looked at one piece of paper and blinked as she processed what she was seeing. On the page, there was a picture of a hand, with a tattoo on it, that looked kind of like hers. She looked at her hand, then at the picture again, before scanning the page. Looking up from it, she tried to remember where this particular page had fallen from.

Grabbing the materials from the shelf, she began to look through them. One part caught her attention and made everything else background noise. And at that moment, she felt happy. Summoning, could that at least mean a friend? Like a friend that could be with her always? She began to take note of everything, including the small window of opportunity to make the ritual the strongest.

Velvet quickly bounded from the room, intent on performing the ritual soon. Then she collided with someone.

Falling on her butt, she looked only to see Blake Belladonna shaking her head, a pile of books and papers surrounding.

"S-sorry..." Velvet said sheepishly, as she began to pick up her books. As Blake looked up, she nodded as she began to pick up her own books.

"That's alright, I probably should have seen you coming." Blake said looking at Velvet. Then she blinked as she spied the tattoo on her hand.

Soon, Velvet and Blake had their books in their arms, Velvet blushing as she looking away.

"So...I'll see you in class?" Blake said. Velvet looked up and nodded.

"Y-yeah." Then she ran off, running through the doors.

"Hmm...what's this?" Blake said as she looked through her books, taking note of one book that wasn't supposed to be there.

* * *

><p>Ruby wouldn't be lying if she said that there were times that she felt smothered by Yang's overprotectediveness, if that was even a word.<p>

It felt like if she had something, the blonde would prod, poke, and otherwise make sure that it wouldn't harm her. It would be alright if that wasn't the case for everything that Ruby wanted to do or try to do. Heck, at one point, Yang actually nearly tried to put her foot down about Ruby becoming a huntress.

Ruby had yet to find the trigger for whatever she got during that confrontation.

Still, she wished that her sister could just lay off and let her handle things, like this tattoo thing. One look, and her sister practically exploded, and over a little thing like this. It looked pretty cool, so what harm could it do? Sure, it appeared out of nowhere, but that was it. Yet Yang demanded that they go to the tattoo parlor to see if they could get it removed.

"FRICKING UNBELIEVABLE!" Yang fumed as the trio walked through the halls to get back to their dorm.

"Let it go, Yang." Weiss sighed as she rubbed her head, beginning to suffer through what she called a 'Yang-induced headache.'

"Did you even hear him? Oh, we're sorry, that's not a tattoo, and I don't think we can get it removed... What is it then? Did you two just get birthmarks or something?"

Weiss shrugged as she looked at her tattoo. "To be honest, I'm not even sure. It doesn't look like tattoo ink, it actually look like part of my skin just turned a different color. Other than that, I do think it's infectious."

"Still, we're going to the nurse, right now." Yang said as she began to walk towards the nurse's office. Weiss rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Yang, did you not hear what I said? Besides, we've been looking at every tattoo parlor, including the unsanitary ones. Need I remind you that we still have homework to do for Professor Port's class?"

"Weisssssssssssssssssss..." Ruby groaned. "Why did you have to remind me of that?"

"Well, someone has to be the responsible one on this team, and as far as I know, you two more or less made it me and Blake." Weiss glibly said as she opened the door to their dorm. As the three entered, Blake looked up from the book she was reading.

"So how did it go?" Blake asked. Yang rubbed her face as she sat next to her partner.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Yang groaned as she allowed the fatigue to leave her.

"Basically." Weiss commented as she looked through her books.

"Hey, Blake, what's that book? Looks pretty old."

Everyone turned to look at Blake's book, which did look like the ages had messed around with it.

"Yeah, I think it was Velvet's... Who I think has something like that too on her hand."

Yang perked up. "Really?"

"Great, we ask her tomorrow. We still have homework." Weiss said as she took out a piece of paper and sat at her desk. Yang groaned, before climbing up to her bunk.

"So why didn't you return Velvet's book?" Blake turned to look at Ruby as the red cloaked girl sat next to her. Then she looked down at Ruby's hand, before looking back at her book. Then she flipped through a few pages, before showing the diagram that she saw.

Ruby blinked before looking at her own tattoo, or 'command seal' as the book called it.

"Wha-" Then everyone turned to the door as someone knocked on it.

"I got it!" Ruby said as she used her semblance to speed towards the door. Opening it up, she looked outside.

"Umm...Hi." Velvet Scarlatina said, hands behind her back as she looked up from the ground. She was digging her heels into the ground.

"Hi, Velvet!" Ruby smiled as she opened the door wider, allowing the others in the dorm to see who it is, and for Velvet to see who was in. As she saw Blake with the book, she gasped, before sliding past Ruby. As she walked toward Blake, her hands reached out for the book. Only as she looked up at Blake to meet her gaze did she stop short. Her hands dropped down and her cheeks sported a pink hue.

"So this is your tattoo..."

Velvet eeped as she looked over at Weiss, who was studying the seal on Velvet's hand with a clinical eye, holding it in her hands. As the heiress rubbed her thumb on it, Velvet shivered and pulled it away. Weiss looked at her own seal and rubbed her.

"Velvet, when did you get that?" Weiss asked stepping a little closer, prompting Velvet to look down and escape the scrutinizing gaze.

"Yesterday, I just woke up with it. I don't remember getting it..." Velvet responded, hoping that the information was enough.

"Strange, other than the design, it is nearly the same. Would have thought that it would have been somewhat different."

Blake felt her ears prick at that. "What do you mean by that?"

Weiss shrugged. "Pretty sure something would have been different because of a faunus' physiology. I guess I was wrong."

Blake restrained herself before turning back to Velvet. "I'm guessing you want to use the ritual in this book?"

As Velvet shrugged, Weiss turned to Velvet, her eyebrow raised. "What ritual?"

While Velvet kept silent, Blake looked down at the book in her hands, before looking up.

"The ritual to summon a heroic spirit."

* * *

><p><strong>So this took over a month to write, including vacations and college starting. Man, so much set up...<strong>

**Would anyone like to beta this?**


	3. Eruption

It was nearing 2 o'clock.

Blake idly checked over the book, her faunus vision letting her see the words on the pages perfectly even in the dim moonlight. Then she looked up, just as Ruby was about to call out.

"Is this good?" Ruby said as she pointed to a part of the summoning circle that Ruby must have thought looked a little weird. Blake nodded.

"It's fine. Besides, according to what this says here, the Grail will perform most of the summoning itself, and as long as the shape is recognizable, the circle will be usable." Blake said as she looked at the page that said that.

"Really? I didn't know that..." Velvet mumbled as she looked up from her own work.

"Well, that's Blakey!" Ruby appeared next to Velvet and patted her on the shoulder, missing Velvet's sudden stillness. "She always is so sharp, it's pretty cool!"

"Oh..." Velvet said, breathed as she looked at Ruby, someone on her mind. "R-Ruby? Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, Velvet?" Ruby said.

"W-Why are you out here too? Your teammate Weiss didn't look too interested in this..." Velvet said. Ruby rubbed her chin.

"Well... I figured that if she wasn't interested, she wasn't interested and I figured I'd respect that. Still, I think she's missing out on something... I mean, seriously!" Suddenly, what could be called Ruby's Passion bubbled to the surface as she began to get lost in her own world.

"I mean, summoning heroic spirits, summoning people who did stuff so cool that they go to this place where other cool people who also did cool things, that's so...COOL! And I figure that these Noble Phantasms have to be so cool too! ...So yeah." Ruby grinned at Velvet, who was trying to stop herself from inching back.

"So why are you out here, Velv?" Ruby asked, making Velvet blink as she was caught off guard.

"Well..." Velvet started, only to pause. She tried to think of something to say, and could only be aware of just how long it was that she was not giving an answer.

"Well, I-" "You know what." Ruby interrupted, making Velvet look up at her. "You only had to say that you didn't feel comfortable saying why." Ruby smiled before getting up to look after her own circle. Velvet stared at Ruby for a while, before looking down, continuing her work.

Blake had been looking down at the book, specifically the page that she was currently on. Apparently, none of the other two girls with her had asked to read, or even seen this part of the book. To think that the Command Seals were actually marks of who would participate in the Holy Grail War... and who would be able to claim the prize of one wish...

Admittably, when she had came across this information, she didn't know what to think. She was no stranger to violence, so the war aspect wasn't unfamiliar to her. But the prize...anything in the world... To think that Faunus Equality...Actual Faunus Equality, that the notion of it being achievable in this life time was practically unconceivable. But now...

To think that she was not chosen and that Weiss Schnee had been. She wanted to think well of her teammate in white, she really did. But she would be lying if she denied that there was still a little sting in her heart.

Perhaps it was this was why she was dedicating so much to this. All variables accounted for, for this ritual to go right... Hopefully, everything in this book was a hoax, and perhaps Yang had been paying the long term in this new prank of hers. But something in her dared to hope.

For what, she didn't know.

Looking back at the summoning circles that Ruby and Velvet had drawn on the ground with red paint (hopefully those few cans would go unnoticed) then at the designs in the book, Blake shut the book close.

"Alright, it's going to be time."

While Ruby's eyes gleamed with excitement as she wondered out loud what kind of heroic spirit she was going to summon, Velvet's eye held a glimmer of hope as she stood stock still.

"Alright, you two both know what to say?" Blake asked. As both girls nodded, Blake looked back at her scroll before nodding.

"Start chanting now."

With that, Ruby and Velvet stood in front of their own summoning circle and closed their eyes. Concentrating, both began to chant the ritual's words.

_**"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Repeat five times. But destroy each when filled."**_

Blake continued to watch as the two continued to recite the chant perfectly.

_**"A base of silver and steel. A foundation of stone and the Archduke of Contracts. And my ancestor, my great master, Schweinorg."**_

Blake was honestly surprised that Ruby actually managed to pronounce that. Even she had problems with that one.

_**"A wall to block the falling wind. The gates of all four directions close. From the Crown, come forth and follow the forked road to the Kingdom."**_

It was at this moment that Blake felt the most foolish. Seriously, what was she doing? Trying to reenact some old ritual that honestly sounded too good to be true... How pathetic.

That was until the symbols began to emit light. Ruby and Velvet continued to intone, uncaring of the phenomenon.

_**"I hereby propose. My will shall create thy body and thy sword shall create my fate. Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!"**_

Light, Blake thought as she stared at what was happening. Whatever was happening, it was working? Feeling something blow through her hair, she looked back and gasped as she saw her hair actually caught in a breeze. There was no breeze before.

_**"I hereby swear. I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world."**_

Was it her, or was the light getting stronger? Blake shielded her eyes as her faunus vision, having adjusted to the darkness, now dealt with the shift in light. The wind also seemed to be picking up. This all seemed to point to one thing.

Power was collecting in those summoning circles, and something was happening.

"RUBY! VELVET!" Blake shouted, hoping get any of the two's attentions. To her dismay, they looked like they didn't even hear, only holding out their hands and grasping their arms as they continued to chant.

_**"Thou, clad wth the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint."**_

With those words, the light was blinding, and the wind picked up. Blake's breath halted. Those were-

"STOP!" Blake shouted to no avail.

_**"GUARDIAN OF THE HEAVENLY SCALES!" **_With their final cry, Ruby and Velvet completed their chant. In that instant, the light exploded, bathing the world in light and forcing Blake to close her eyes.

As the light died down, Blake looked up, only to feel a gust of wind and some dirt hit her face. Then she choked.

There, now standing in front of Velvet, stood...something. Blake recognized it as a Faunus, two black tufts standing out in a head of red hair. He was shirtless, wore a pair of black pants with sandals and held a sheathed katana in one hand. His eyes were covered with an eyemask that looked to be made out of bone, the four eyes holes laid out in a pattern that looked familiar to a Nevermore. Blake should have noticed more...

If it wasn't for the air of bloodlust and hatred in the air. Looking back at ...it, Blake noticed the teeth-baring snarl on the lips, promising death and destruction for all. Never in all her years had a simple snarl make her want to run, and run, and never look back. That look promised that with all her skills, all her experience...she would be crushed like an ant. Shakily looking over at Ruby, she noticed that the hooded girl was ramrod stiff, a bit of motion here and there giving away her nerves.

That was probably because of the person in front of them.

It must have been male, as his shoulders just seemed to be too broad to be a woman. His blonde hair covered the back of his neck and reminded her of hay, both from the color and messiness of it. The rest of his body was covered by the brown cloak he was wearing, which looked beat up and worn from much travel. Peaking over the top of his cloak, the hilt of what must be his sword showed itself.

It was strange, he emitted no presence, no overwhelming aura that countered the...thing in front of them, yet Blake already felt better him just standing there. Seeing him stand there made him look like a wall standing in front of a horde of murderous grimm. Looking over at Ruby, she realized that she had stopped shaking and was now fully staring at the person in front of them.

Idly, Blake noticed that the man stood at least a good head above Ruby.

Ruby was right now completely lost. She had been doing the chant precisely as Blake had instructed her to. The light and wind coming from the summoning circle told her that she must have been doing something right. As she closed her eyes and continued the incantation, she felt it. Something, someone had reached out for her, like a hand stretching out to her. Almost immediately, she grabbed hold and pulled.

As the sensation consumed her senses, she felt herself pushed back. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the man's brown cloak, looking like he used it a lot and wasn't able to take care of it. As Ruby continued to stare, her eyes widened as...something entered her view.

**Strength: C**

**Agility: D**

**Endurance: B**

**Mana: B**

**Noble Phantasm: D (Sealed)**

**Luck: E**

As Ruby tried to make sense of this new information, the stranger looked back, the only sign a brief turn of his neck.

"Are you alright, master?"

Ruby could only blink at the stranger's voice, for it sounded...sad, like he was sad for so long that his voice was tinged with the emotion. And the second thing that popped out at her was...

"Master?" Suddenly, Ruby grunted as she felt her hand heat up in pain. Holding her hand up, she saw her tattoo, or Command Seal as Blake put it, glowing red. She heard someone else grunt in pain, and she remembered who else was in the grove with her and Blake.

"Velvet?" She asked as she looked to the side only to see no one there. Looking around the stranger, she saw Velvet, standing behind... What in Dust's name was that? As she stared at the...thing, the same thing began to happen when she looked at the stranger.

**Strength: A**

**Agility: B+**

**Endurance: B+**

**Mana: C**

**Noble Phantasm: B+**

**Luck: C**

**Class Skills:**

**Mad Enchancement: B**

**Personal Skills:**

**Hate of the Oppressed: A**

Just as she finished absorbing this data, did she realize who she was looking for.

"Velvet!" She called out as she ran out from behind the stranger, only to struck by the amount of hate that the...thing was excluding. She had heard of looks that can kill, and she found the closest thing that could. As her breath cut short, she saw it looked between her and Velvet, whose own Command Seal was glowing as well.

As it looked between her and Velvet, his bared teeth clenched themselves as his murderous intent focused in on her. Ruby tried her hardest to breath, and maintained eye contact. Suddenly, it disappeared, a patch of grass disturbed. Time slowed down for her as she looked...

And saw the beast jumping towards her, his sword withdrawn and ready to rip through her. As Ruby saw it get closer and closer, only one thought raged in her mind.

She was going to die.

Just as she saw the blade come closer, she saw her reflection, terrified silver pupils staring back at her. Suddenly, she was pulled back, the stranger coming back into view, his weapon swinging at the beast. The beast's head snapped back as it flew away, regaining its balance in the air and landing on its feet, crouched. It looked and snarled, its... rage now turned against him.

Looking up at the stranger, who was now in a stance, his weapon clothed in his cloak, standing in front of her, she gotten hold of her mental process enough to know.

She was about to die, and this guy just saved her. As she processed this fact, she opened her mouth automatically.

"T-tha-" "Master."

That single words cut her thanks in half. The stranger turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes off the beast.

"Master, get out of here."

Ruby blinked.

"What?"

The stranger turned his head back.

"Get out of here. This Saber is going to need everything to fight Beserker."

Almost like a signal, th- Beserker roared, before jumping at him. Th- Saber was silent as he charged forth.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you woke me up this early..." Grumbled Weiss as she yawned, glaring at Yang. The blonde didn't even acknowledge it.<p>

"Well, you saw that Ruby and Blake weren't in their bed, and that they had their pajamas on the bed..."

Weiss shook her head. Yang was so overprotective of Ruby to the point of embarrassing, it was good that she wasn't the same to Winter... A brief pang of something popped up, before Weiss forced it down.

Yang shook her head, her lips in a tight frown.

"Look...I know it's stupid for you, but Ruby... sometimes I feel trouble knows where to find Ruby..."

"YANG!" Suddenly, in a burst of rose petals, Ruby popped out, gasping for air and grabbing Yang's arms.

"RUBY!" Hugging her sister, Yang held Ruby at arm's length, glaring at her. "Why are you out here this late?"

"Well..." Ruby began as she poked her fingers together. Just as she thought about how to explain the two people that she and Velvet summoned that are now trying to kill each other, Blake appeared behind her.

"I'll explain. Right now, someone needs to get a teacher. PortOobleckGoodwitchanyone!" Blake breathed out in one word. Yang and Weiss looked at each other, before Weiss looked back.

"Okay, now I'm concerned. You two got out of bed early, and now you two look like something's been chasing you. What is the heck is going on?!"

Just as Weiss said that, the forest that Ruby and Blake came out of exploded as something flew back, smashing into the statue next to the group. The girls covered their faces as they were hit by the debris and dust. As the dust cloud died down, Team RWBY coughed before looking at the now destroyed statue.

"W-WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Weiss screeched, unsettled by the sudden turn of events.

"I think a better question is - WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Yang yelled as she pointed to Berserker coming out of the woods, sword in hand. It seemed to look over the courtyard, until its gaze leveled at them. Staring at them, it bared its teeth , before bellowing out in rage. It took everything team RWBY had not to run away screaming or do whatever else would be inspired by panic.

"So...w-what's the plan?" Yang shivered as she felt naked, and not in a good way, without her gauntlets.

"G-get someone, g-get anyone." Blake forced herself to speak.

Ruby could only breathe in and out, hoping for this horrible nightmare to come to an end. She glanced at the pile of stone that used to be statues. 'Please help' she silently pleaded.

"IT'S COMING!" Weiss shouted as Berserker charged forth, his sword gleaming of his intentions. Thinking quickly, the heiress placed a glyph in front of Berserker. Just as it was about to step on it, Berserker jumped up into the air, growling as he started to fall towards the team.

"It dodged?!" Weiss shouted incredulously, just as a piece of statue was thrown at the falling Berserker. Almost with contempt, Berserker slashed through the stone, only to see the stranger swing at him. Connecting with its face, Berserker fell to the ground, a cloud of dust and dirt kicking up.

The stranger scarcely landed when Berserker burst out of the cloud, his feet ripping up the turf as he ran at Saber. Saber stood still in a stance, his weapon held out in front of him, both hands on the hilt. As soon as Berserker was in range, it swung its katana at Saber, aiming to bisect him from shoulder to hip. Saber quickly grabbed the other side of his weapon and blocked it with the broad side of his sword, his feet sliding back a bit, before he pushed Berserker.

Berserker snarled, and readjusted, spinning around to deliver a back slash. Saber ducked, some of his hair nicked, before swinging at Berserker's knees. Berserker jumped up, both hands grasping the hilt, before bringing his katana down like a hammer. Saber held his weapon in front, grunting as the impact rattled his arms. Berserker swung down again, Saber's defense starting to weaken.

Just as Berserker swung down again, Saber tilted his sword, Berserker's katana not meeting the same resistance. As it missed, Saber punched Berserker in the face. It was only enough to get it to rise up, but it was enough. Adjusting himself, Saber stood up, smashing against Berserker's midsection with his shoulder, before swinging upwards.

His weapons smashed against Berserker's chin, it stumbling back a few steps. Ruby blinked as her brain tried to register the past few seconds.

As Berserker stumbled back and shook its head, Blake spotted someone coming out of the forest. Tapping Ruby on the shoulder, the silver-eyed girl looked up at her, before following her finger.

"We forgot Velvet!" Ruby gasped as she saw Velvet come out of where they were.

"Ruby, it's too dangerous!" Yang said as she grabbed Ruby's shoulders. Ruby turned around and saw that the fight started again, and felt her senses stop as she witnessed them fight.

Their weapons clashed against each other, blurs just smashing against each other, before they blurred again and smashed in another spot. She barely registered the sound, like steel meeting something that wasn't steel. The ground was being torn up as their feet wrestled with it to gain traction. And all the while, Ruby stared slackjawed.

It was like...a scene out of a movie, or story book. The evil monster versus the brave hero...swords clashing, the monster trying to overwhelm the hero, the hero stoically refusing to give up. Ruby honestly wondered. She felt like she was a pretty good huntress, and pretty handy with her Crescent Rose, and could totally took on like a horde of Beowolves or gang members by her lonesome. Yet, seeing what was happening right now...

She felt way below their league.

"Ahh, are you girls unharmed?" "Indeed, that is quite a relief." Ruby was broken out of her reverie as she looked at the voice, and immediately felt some relief.

"Professor Port! Professor Oobleck!" she shouted as she saw two of the professors come out, Port carrying his trusty blunderbuss-double sided axe combo, and Oobleck carrying...

"...Umm, Professor Oobleck? I don't think this is the time for coffee." Ruby remarked as she stared at Oobleck's thermos. He stared as her as his thermos shifted, turning into a staff with a torch on the top. Yang only whistled.

"Will this suffice, Miss Rose?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, yeah it would."

"RARR!"

The group turned just as Saber and Berserker locked swords, Berserker's face set in his permanent snarl while Saber matched might with him. Seeing the deadlock, they withdrew blades, only to erupt in a new flurry of blows, the metal ringing out like bells, their only attention set on their battle. As their swords bounced off each other again, neither was phased as they took a step back, before Jaune threw a punch at Berserker.

As the fist came closer, Berserker leaned forwards, his cheek being grazed by Saber's fist. As he threw his own punch, Saber quickly blocked it with the flat of his sword. Feeling the impact, Saber sailed through the air, flipping over and landing on his feet, sword in stance.

Instead of them clashing again, the two stared at each other, as if reevaluating the other.

"So...These are the two miscreants causing trouble. I must say they are quite skilled..." Port observed.

"Well, I suppose I have people to take responsibility then..." A low voice growl as heels could be heard coming out of the door. As the group turned to look, Team RWBY had a stark realization. During all their time learning and studying in Beacon...

They never saw Glynda Goodwitch PISSED.

"You four, go back into Beacon now. We will handle this."

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang shared a look, before heading inside. Just before she entered, Ruby looked back at Saber, his back still turned to her. Offering a hope for his survival, she ran back inside.

* * *

><p>His master ran back inside. Good, that meant he could now focus on Berserker. Still, he now had to worry about the three adults left, and they seemed intent on doing something. Well, the brief look he gave them told him that they might be able to give Servants like him trouble, and perhaps even serve as a threat to Assassin and Caster, but...<p>

"I'll handle Berserker, you get the girl." He said, bobbing his head in Berserker's master's direction. Berserker took his words as a challenge, as he noted, and charged at him. Just as he raised his weapon, the ground below him shined with a blue light. Jumping to the side, he saw Berserker do the same thing just as his sight was obscured by the giant block of ice that appeared.

'A glyph-semblance?'

Saber looked back at the blond woman, her...what was that? It looked like a stick with a bit of leather on the tip.

"What are you doing? You nearly got us both!" Saber said, his skeptical analysis of the woman's weapon being put on hold by the fact that the woman appeared to be threatening him.

Adjusting her glasses, the woman merely glared at him as she waved her wand. As she did, the ground around him glowed blue, before walls of ice erupted around him and Berserker. The ice was clear enough that Saber could see through it, and into the next prison. Berserker roared in fury as he started to punch at the ice, but the woman began to put more effort into reinforcing the walls.

However, it was clear that the walls would not hold him in for long.

"Oobleck! Get Miss Scarlatina out of here!" The woman shouted, sweat starting to form on her brow.

The now identified Oobleck nodded as he rushed over to Berserker's master, patting her on the shoulder. The brief contact made Berserker as he redoubled his assault. The woman gritted her teeth as she poured more power into her restraints, while the man with the mustache readied his weapon.

"Miss Scarlatina, we must get you to safety! Come with me!"

Berserker's master, still staring at her servant, shook her head.

"Stop!" With that, Berserker's master ran towards the icy prison, stopping in front of Berserker. Noticing his master in front of him, Berserker paused his assault, staring at her quietly. It was disconcerting, seeing such a timid girl stand in front of Berserker, but even with trembling hands and knees, the girl stared straight at him.

"Please stop..." Berserker's master spoke softly, and it seemed like Berserker was listening.

"Miss Scarlatina, please step away from that!" Oobleck shouted as he ran up and grasped Berserker's master by the shoulder firmly. However, a gasp escaped from her mouth, and that was all that it took.

His rage ignited again, Berserker roared as he started his assault again.

Saber looked up from this scene around him. He needed to escape this prison, and he just didn't have the time to convince the blond woman of his innocence. Looking up the walls, he realized that he was only enclosed, and the top was left open. She must not had time to think about that as she was casting, Saber thought to himself as he readied himself.

Rushing towards the wall, he began to run up, gravity's hold on him trying and failing to pull him back down. Clearing the top, he landed on his feet and looked up. Berserker smashed through the prison and began to run towards Oobleck and his master.

The mustache man jumped in between Berserker and Oobleck and leveled his weapon, fire belching from the tip. Saber expected Berserker to dodge, or even take the attack. What he didn't expect was for Berserker to duck under the attack and pivot on the spot, the fire sailing over Berserker's shoulder. His katana flashed, and the mustache man was cut from shoulder to hip, his face radiating surprise, before Berserker backhanded him, flipping over himself before landing on the ground.

"PETER!" Oobleck and the blond woman shouted as they witnessed his friend cut down. Just as Berserker reached them, another wall of ice erupted between them and him. The wall didn't even slow him down as he burst through it. Oobleck raised his weapon up as Berserker swung at him, the impact breaking his weapon and sending him flying.

The immediate threat over, Berserker turned around to look at his master. Satisfied that no harm had been done to her, he held an arm in front of her and pushed her back. Meanwhile, he held his katana out in front of himself, growling at Oobleck.

Oobleck got on his feet shakily, before looking at the two pieces that used to be his weapon.

"Blast." He said as he looked around, looking down at Port's weapon. Grabbing it, he began to take the axe attachment off.

"You know your friend is fine." Saber said as he walked upon beside him. Oobleck looked back to see Peter being healed, the blond woman concentrating as she powered her spell.

"Well, thank you for that reassurance. Now would it be possible for you to go back to your prison over there and wait for the authorities to arrest you?"

Saber shook his head. "Well, how about we rescue that girl first, hmm?"

Oobleck frowned as he finished attached his thermos onto Peter's Blunderbluss. Looking over it, he nodded to himself before aiming it at Berserker.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Velvet's safety does come first, and while I appreciate your concern, it does not erase the fact that you have committed massive damages and participated in a fight that has severely wounded one of our faculty."

"...We'll cross that bridge when we have to... That weapon looks pretty heavy."

Oobleck nodded. "Yes."

"I just need a couple of moments to get to...Velvet. When I get over there, Berserker's attention will shift to me. At that moment, you get Velvet out of here, and gently, don't make sudden movements."

"Right." Oobleck said as he took aim, his finger on the trigger. Berserker growled as he sensed the tension in the air.

"Ready..." Saber said, lowering himself into a crouch. Berserker took the same stance. Oobleck simply swallowed, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"NOW!" Saber shouted as he ran forth, Berserker rushing forwards as well. Just as they were about to meet, Oobleck fired, a belch of flame erupting from the gun into their midst, engulfing the area with smoke and fire. Oobleck continued firing, pelting the area, then he heard Berserker roar.

Saber ran out of the smoke, his cloak wrapped around him as he dashed for Velvet. He heard Berserker roar, so he knew he didn't have much time left. Just as he reached him, he closed his eyes, as his hand tightened around his sword.

"I'm sorry."

With that, Saber tackled Velvet to the ground. Quickly adjusting himself so that his legs held her arms down, he grasped the hilt of his sword with two hands, the weapon poised to crush her throat. Velvet was still, her eyes widening as she saw her death approaching. Tears began to fall down the sides of her head, before she started to scream, closing her eyes. Saber frowned, before hardening his heart.

Saber stabbed downwards with all his strength.

_**Blood. Murder. Pain. Grief. Regret. Sorrow.**_

And the weapon landed in the space next to her head. Velvet took shallow breaths as her brain struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

Saber sighed, before jumping off her, the blade cutting off a bit of his cloak. Rolling into a crouched position, he saw Berserker snarl at him, before looking down at his master. He tilted his head, like an animal who found something that had piqued his curiosity. It was then that Saber noticed that Velvet was unconscious, having fainted from her near-death experience.

Having realized that he needed to get his master out of here since she had been targeted, he sheathed his sword. Gathering the girl in his arms, he took a moment to brush aside a lock of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Looking at Saber one last time, as if promising a definite end to their battle, Berserker ran into the woods, disappearing among the trees.

Saber took a deep breath as he looked around the place that he and Berserker had done battle. The fire from Oobleck's weapon was still going, and looked like it was starting to become out of control. The ice left from that woman's spell still remained, like giant towers piercing through the ground. The ground was gouged and ripped up, tales of their battle now engraved and etched into the surface.

And he had failed to take out what was surely one of the biggest threats in the Holy Grail War...

As he lost himself in his own shame and self-pity, a bright light began to shine through. Looking up, he saw these large metal boxes with what looked to be wings. Looking down, he saw the blond woman and Oobleck looking over their fallen compatriot. A frown found itself on Saber's face.

Right now, there was nothing more he could do. The only thing he can do was to reconnect with his master and plan for their next moves in the war. He found himself blinking at that.

When he was first summoned, he knew who was his master. In essence, the whole ceremony thing, with him confirming that she was his master, was merely formality, and even now, he could feel the connection between him and her. A sardonic smile grew as he thought of his performance today and the fact that his master would have to depend on him to get her through this war.

It was times like these that the chain keeping his sword stuck in his sheath felt the heaviest.

Imaging the line between him and his master, he began to restrtict the flow between them. As he did so, his body starting from his feet became transparent, until he could no longer be seen. Taking one more glance at the two kneeling over their comrade, he walked into the building, intent to find his master.

"Sorry master, it seems you have summoned a worthless servant like me..."

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to Saber, the students of Beacon had been waken by his fight with Berserker, some of whom even recording the fight.<p>

Soon, the footage had gone viral, sparking questions about the two who had fought at Beacon.

And alerting others to their presence...

As the light began to die down in the hull, Sun blinked as he tried to make out his Servant. He had been looking at the kitchen just as the door opened. As he hopped back into the air vent, he could hear the people below muttering about some things that were happening at Beacon. One news report on the TV later, Sun knew he had to summon his Servant.

As the dots began to clear away, he made out his Servant. Standing around his eye level, the first thing that Sun noticed was that he was barechested, the only article on his upper body was the bandages that encircled his wrists and the bottom half of his palms. He was wearing green pants that looked to be made of some material that was loose and could provide a full range of movement for his legs. His feet were covered by some beige covering with straps keeping it in place, his shoes peeking out from underneath. To top it off, he was lithe, his muscles not bulging, but compact and easily concealed the power beneath his frame. He essentially looked like those kung-fu monks that he saw in all those martial arts movies, minus the black hair that grew to the base of his neck and was gathered in a ponytail.

And in his hands was a simple longbow, yet Sun could already sense that there was something more.

His Servant turned his purple eyes to him, before bowing, his hands together as he dipped his upper body.

"Upon your summoning, Servant Archer has answered your call. I ask you, are you my master?"

Looking down at his hand, he saw that his tattoo had changed color, now a bright red. Looking back up at Archer, he nodded. Looks like whether he liked it or not, there was no turning back.

* * *

><p>Junior rubbed his eyes as he struggled to see if the ritual had worked.<p>

As soon as he saw the footage, he began to pour through the books that he could find, before one of his henchmen alerted him of something else that they had found in the basement, and they were weird. When he took a look, he had to agree with that assessment.

It looked like someone had sorted a pile of junk and put a little card next to each one. A bit of cloth there claiming that it was part of a cape. A tooth saying that it was a tooth of a legendary. Essentially, Junior nearly ordered the junk to be thrown away as he turned to another page in the book, then he stopped.

To think, with the right catalyst, the right item, he could call down any Heroic Spirit he wanted. With that, he looked through the seemingly pieces of crap, before making his selection. Now as he lowered his hands and took a peek to see if the ritual worked, he blinked along with the rest of his gang.

She stood around the midway of his bicep, whatever skin was exposed pale like milk. She seemed to have a love for fur, as it seems to make up nearly all her clothes, from her coat, to her skirt, to her shinguards and vambraces, to her boots. Finally, sitting proudly on the top of her head, a bear's head sat, the bottom half gone so that the girl could wear it like a hat. Strapped to her back and looking bigger than her own body was this massive warhammer that looked like it could crush his skull in one blow.

However, the biggest thing that told Junior that he needed to be careful around this one was the manic energy that lurked in the girl's eyes, promising chaos if it ever found a reason to be unleashed.

"HI!" The girl grinned as she walked towards the group. Junior heard the shuffling of his gang's feet. Stopping in front of them, the girl looked at the group, seemingly evaluating each one.

"So this is your tribe, huh? GREAT! They look like strong...or at least can take a better. Hehehe..." The girl took a moment to giggle, before looking back at them. Drawing her warhammer, she held it above her head with one hand.

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP! I AM NORA, BARBARIAN QUEEN OF THE SNOWS! FIRST, WE SHALL FEAST!"

"Feast?" Junior asked as his henchmen looked at each other.

"Yes, we shall feast, make merry, and so on and so on. For tomorrow, you will all help me search for my eternal rival. I can feel it, he's here, I know it." With that, she grinned at the people gathered before it.

"When we find him, and we will, prepare for an epic battle, one that the skalds will surely sing of for generations!" She finished, clenching her fist.

"...Okay, question." Junior asked, coming closer.

"Yes?" Nora asked, tilting her head.

"...Which class are you supposed to be? And shouldn't a Servant conceal their identity?"

Nora blinked for a moment, tapping her bottom lip. Suddenly, she smacked her head.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot. Thanks for reminding me!"

With that, she smashed her hammer into the ground, the ground shaking a bit as it cracked, yet another thing that Junior noted.

"Hello, I'm Rider! Ignore that the fact that you heard my real name."

Junior already felt the headache that was sure to come.

* * *

><p>Looking down at the streets below, Neo took a breath, savoring the cold air that was free of the ugliness and depravity of the streets below. Soon enough, with the power of the grail, the world would be like this. And as she turned to regard her Servant, she was sure that the war she was to fight would be a trifle.<p>

He stood in the shadows, the only light illuminating him was the glow of the scroll and the cigar that he was smoking. As much as she thought it was an ugly habit, she supposed that she could let it slide.

"Well," He said as he turned the scroll off, tossing the scroll back to her. As the cigar burned brighter for a moment before returning to its normal intensity, a cloud of smoke escaped her Servant's lips. He

"We can keep our minds clear of Saber for now. I bet he's still at this Beacon. Right, let's watch out for Berserker. I think we can exploit that master of his."

As he walked out of the shadows, he took another puff of his cigar, before blowing out another smoke cloud and dropping his now depleted cigar. As the cigar fell on the ground, he rubbed it out with a black cane with a red bottom. A smirk fully bloomed on his lips.

"Wonder if the rabbit even knows what she gotten herself into?"

* * *

><p>Tapping a few buttons on the scroll that he had just taken, Mercury took a deep breath before entering their hideout. He knew that when he entered this war with Emerald that it wasn't going to be easy, that they were going to need a lot of luck and their Servant's help if they wanted to make it out of this. Still...<p>

Every time that he was in her presence, he felt like an ant.

Stepping into the room, he approached the makeshift throne that they had fashioned for her. Upon it, their servant was obscured by darkness, the only thing that showed was her eyes, burning like cinders among the ashes.

"You might want to see this." Mercury said as he handed the scroll to her. Taking it, she watched the footage, before turning it off.

"I see, perhaps we can use this... Continue your search, and if possible, keep an eye out for Berserker's master. It is the empress' responsibility to offer refuge..."

* * *

><p>So that's the action chapter. Now for talks and revelations next chapter!<p> 


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